A Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), which is sometimes referred to as a Life Care Community, is a senior living community designed for independent adults, offering a maintenance-free lifestyle, with the promise of additional health care services should they be needed at any stage.

No. Some are for profit, others, like RiverWoods, are not-for-profit charitable organizations. Another difference is in contract and fee services. Some organizations provide a lower monthly fee, but costs increase as health care needs develop. “Type A” organizations, like RiverWoods, do not charge an additional fee (other than a small additional meals charge) as a resident requires more health care services. This provides peace of mind.

I’m not sick yet, so I am not ready to move. How will I know when I’m ready?

Moving to a retirement community is a very personal decision, and a process that typically involves a great deal of thought and discussion. Yet, it is important to remember that a CCRC like RiverWoods is NOT a nursing home. In order to be accepted to RiverWoods, you must be able to live safely on your own. We are a community that accepts independent retirement-age folks. If you wait until you are not able to live safely on your own, it may be too late.

At RiverWoods, you do not have to make that choice. 90% of your entrance fee is refunded to you or your estate if you move out or pass away, pending resale of the independent living unit. This is called estate preservation, and is an important distinction of RiverWoods.

View our answers to the questions the US Senate Special Committee on Aging recommends all CCRC consumers ask before choosing a retirement community. Take a look at our audited financial statements, posted on our website. Review our last few years of annual reports – all of our records are available for your scrutiny. Talk to our CFO. It’s interesting to note, also, that in the midst of the recent global financial crisis (November, 2008) Riverwoods was one of 5 not for profit retirement community projects to receive bond funding for an expansion over a 6 month period.

Neither. You are purchasing an insurance product. We are governed by the State of New Hampshire Department of Insurance. What you are primarily purchasing is the promise of health care. You do not need to be concerned about maintenance of your unit or of reselling it – we take care of all that.

There are two fees – one is the entrance fee, which is payable when you close. 90% of the first person entrance fee will be refunded to you or your estate upon your leaving, upon resale of your independent living unit. The second fee is the monthly service fee. A portion of both the entrance fee and the monthly service fee are tax-deductible as pre-paid medical expenses.

Our menus change daily, and are prepared with great care by our team of professional Chefs. We offer a wide option of meal selections to accommodate a broad range of individual tastes and preferences. We change the entire menu seasonally, to take advantage of the freshest, locally grown ingredients. We use herbs from our own kitchen garden.

Residents enjoy restaurant-style dining, and can dine in any one of our three dining venues on each campus – with a variety of options to choose from. They can choose either lunch or dinner as their meal for the day, and do not have to plan ahead, or dress formally for dinner.

Within Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing, residents are served two additional nutritious meals per day.

We have about 600 residents, living at our three campuses, the Woods, our original campus, which has 199 apartments, and The Ridge, which has 11 cottages and 81 apartments, and our newest campus, The Boulders, which has 24 cottages and 76 apartments, The Woods and The Ridge are ¾ of a mile from each other and The Boulders is ¼ mile from the Ridge.

A long-time member of the Campus Services team describes their service like this: “think of me as the son- in- law you WISH you had”. It’s as good a description as any for a service that shuttles residents between our three campuses, to and from doctor’s appointments, to the grocery store and events, and also helps to set up rooms for large meetings and activities. The team of 7 staff members and their fleet of eight vehicles are here to make residents’ lives easier.

The Continuing Care Accreditation Commission (CCAC/CARF) is the nation’s only accrediting body for these types of care networks. There are more than 1,900 CCRCs around the country, but only 14% of them are accredited. RiverWoods was one of the youngest communities to be accredited. In sping 2014, RiverWoods was re-accredited for five additional years while also earning placement in the top three percent of accredited communities nationwide.